My Minecraft Adventures

October 4, 2010

Hard to believe, just a little more than a week ago I didn’t even know what Minecraft was, let alone understand what the fuss was all about. To be honest, the first time I ever saw one of my Twitter friends tweet about it, I thought it was a game about blowing stuff up with explosive devices. Granted, there is a little bit of that in the single player survival mode, but no, I’ve found through experience that much of the game is about the other kind of mine, the kind that involves lots and lots and lots of digging. And more digging.

But after only a few days, I find myself completely addicted. What can be so great about a game that involves so much digging and blocky 1980s-era graphics, you ask? You’d be surprised. This is the only way I know how to describe its appeal: imagine yourself as a six-year-old again with your big toy box of Legos, except you have essentially an unlimited number of blocks to play with and an infinite virtual world in which to build. Oh, and zombies, can’t forget the zombies! When the sun goes down, beware the creepy crawlies that emerge and do what you can to stay alive! Also, I must add that while I’m a stickler about game graphics myself, I find that the blocky visual style of Minecraft actually worksin its favor.

And of course, if you’re playing multiplayer mode (which is where I spent most of my time), it is in essence a building simulator where you’ll also get to share your creations with other people or maybe even band together to build extravagant projects. Though it’s true that multiplayer is more alpha than single player is, the fun to be had makes putting up with the bugs and occasional crashes worth it. Thanks to my blog friend Blue Kae who’s taken the time to set up a server for us to play around in, a few of us have gotten a chance to be quite busy this past weekend getting creative — mining, crafting, and constructing. While single player has its merits, what I love most about multiplayer Minecraft — or any game, really — is the social aspect and the interaction with others.

To get an idea of what goes on on our humble little server, check out this fantastic videopost made by Arkenor of Ark’s Ark. Yours truly makes an appearance, as Stefferoo the crazy flower-planting lady who likes to throw eggs at the unsuspecting passerby, and later on you can catch a glimpse of my stone house by the bay and my boardwalk along the beach. Also starring Petter of Don’t Fear The Mutant, my road-building collaborator! Thanks again to Ark for the video, and on his site are a bunch of other great videoposts too, so be sure check those out for more of his Minecraft adventures. And despite what he says, I think his Skeletor impressions are just fine!

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14 comments

The game is just so addictive! And the “downside” I have found is that since it doesn’t have any set objectives, you can sit down meaning to just play for a few minutes and later on realize you’ve been sitting at the computer for hours creating the Cretan Labyrinth around some guy’s tower.

That’s very true. Just when I thought I’ve put the finishing touches on a project, I’m like, “Oh, I have some stone left over, maybe I’ll extend the road!” or “Hey, everyone else has a tower, I think I want one too” or “I think my house needs a third floor” and bam, there goes another three hours. I’m embarrassed to even admit how long it took me to build my zombie zoo. And tonight I think I want a lighthouse by my closest island! The possibilities are endless, which is what makes this game so dangerously addictive!

Yes indeed, fallen and fallen hard I have. I place full blame on Blue Kae for this! And tell me about it…speaking of large and crazy schemes I watched a video last night of someone who built a to scale replica of the Enterprise in what I believe was classic Minecraft. It was nuts.

Give Blue Kae a holler, he’ll be able to give you the details on how to join us!

If you’re interested in joining us on the multiplayer server let me know (email and twitter links are on my blog). I’m not publishing the IP address until I get a whitelist setup so we don’t have to worry about griefers.

Haha, just don’t be surprised if you can’t put it aside after you try. There’s a learning curve associated with it, especially since there’s no tutorial available atm, but the wiki was pretty good at getting me started. Once I “got” the game, that was it for me, I was hooked. That’s another reason I so enjoyed multiplayer so much more, ws that there are people to help out when you don’t know how to do something.